The housing boom showed no sign of slowing down during February, with prices shooting up by 1.5%, figures showed today.

Halifax said the gain was due to consumer confidence continuing to bounce back after the September 11 terrorist attacks, as well as a supply shortage driving prices higher.

February's strong increase pushed annual house price inflation up to 16.9%, and the average house price now stands at #101,980, after rising by 8% in the past four months.

The figures are in line with those reported by Nationwide last week, when the building society said prices increased by 1.6% in February, making the cost of a house 14% higher than it had been a year ago.

Gary Styles, head of group economics at Halifax, said: "The housing market has started 2002 strongly with little sign of the widely-anticipated slowing.

"Although this largely reflects a bounce back in consumer confidence from the lows of the September terrorist attacks, supply shortages in the market are also contributing to higher house prices."